Abstract
The objective of this article is to analyze, through the case study of the implementation of ISO 14001 standards in Canadian plant installations, the way in which organizations integrate the formal structures that result from institutional pressures. In particular, the study examines the ritual and ceremonial aspects of conformity to these structures. The study shows that the adoption of ISO 14001 corresponds to a coercive isomorphism that, in-house, leads to the adoption of a system serving to bring greater rationality and tighter control to environmental management practices. However, the procedural rationality of the standards leads to perverse outcomes, the intensity of which varies depending on the case studied: the lack of employee involvement, the bureaucratic red tape of the system, and the ritual nature of certain practices especially during audits. The study's findings contribute to illustrating the symbolic and managerial aspects of institutional phenomena by showing the contradictions and the difficulties they create for the management of organizations. [PUBLICATION ABSTRACT]
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